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Nadia Townsend

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Nadia Townsend
Born (1979-11-27) 27 November 1979 (age 45)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations
Years active1999–current
Height174 cm (5.7 ft)
FatherSimon Townsend
Websitenadiatownsend.com

Nadia Townsend (born 27 November 1979) is an Australian actress and film dramaturge. She portrayed Allie Kingston in the Channel 7 police drama, City Homicide, from 2009 to 2011. In 2009 she appeared in the United States produced science fiction thriller film, Knowing, playing Grace Koestler, alongside Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne. She was assistant dramaturge on George Miller's film, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).

Biography

Nadia Townsend was born in Sydney on 27 November 1979 and lived in Gladesville, the younger daughter of television presenter, producer and print journalist, Simon Townsend (born 1945) and his second wife Rosanna (c. 1950–2003).[1][2] She grew up with an elder brother (born 1978).[2] Their elder half-sister Lisbeth Kennelly (born c. 1968), had been put up for adoption soon after she was born: her parents (Simon and a former girlfriend) had already separated.[2][3] The Townsend family were reunited with Kennelly in 1992, she had also become an actress.[3][4]

As a child, Towsend began ballet lessons but was removed for talking too much.[1] For secondary education she attended Hunters Hill High School,[1] where she befriended fellow future actress, Rose Byrne, in a year 9 Science class.[5] Townsend studied at the Australian Theatre for Young People, Sydney.[1] After meeting visiting United States film and theatre actor, producer and director, Robert Bella, at age 18, she was accepted as a student at his Atlantic Theater Company, New York.[1][6]

Her first television role was playing Clare Gormley in the ABC drama series, Head Start (2001) for 18 episodes.[7] Townsend took the role of Bec in Matt Bird-directed horror thriller film, Blue Neon (2001).[8] She appeared in Fireflies (February–June 2004) as Fiona "Fifi" Sharp, a rural fire-fighter, for ABC-TV, which was produced by John Edwards.[9] Townsend and her half-sister, Kennelly both acted in a theatre drama, Loss and Gloss (December 2004), co-written by mother-daughter writers, Helen and Sophie Townsend.[10][11][12] She took the lead role of Liz, an abductee, in the black comedy feature film, Puppy (2005), alongside Bernard Curry as her abductor.[13]

In 2008, Townsend relocated to Melbourne to study at the Victorian College of the Arts gaining her post-graduate degree in theatre directing.[12] In 2009, Townsend appeared in the US-produced film, Knowing, playing Grace Koestler, opposite Hollywood star Nicolas Cage and Byrne. From August 2009, she portrayed a detective, Allie Kingston, in the Channel 7 police drama, City Homicide, starting in its third season in the episode, "Meet and Greet".[14] She continued the role in season four (2010) and its mini-series continuation, City Homicide: No Greater Honour (2011).[15][16]

In June 2013, she appeared in the theatre production of Neil LaBute's Helter Skelter at Old 505 Theatre, Surry Hills.[17] She is also a film dramaturge, a rare job in Australia; she had been mentored by Nico Lathouris.[18] In 2015, she was assistant dramaturge to Lathouris on George Miller's latest instalment of the Mad Max franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road.[18] She is a co-founding member of Turtle Lab, a performance laboratory.[18] In 2016, she appeared in the TV sci-fi thriller film, Restoration, playing Emma Laws.[19]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Blue Neon Bec
2001 Neophytes and Neon Lights Atari
2003 Danny Deckchair Linda Craig
2005 Puppy Liz Lead role
2007 What They Don't Know Lucy Short
2007 Monkeynaut Able (voice) Short
2009 Knowing Grace Koestler
2010 The Zombie Monologues Annie Short
2012 Forget the Noise Florence Short
2013 Ten Forty-Five Gunslinger Short
2016 Restoration Emma Laws
2017 Concealed Sallie
2019 Little Monsters Sara

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Head Start Clare Gormley Regular role, 18 episodes
2002 My Hero Episode: "Zero Tolerance"
2002 Farscape Kim Kupperstein Episode: "Kansas"
2004 Fireflies Fiona "Fifi" Sharp Main role, telemovie + 20 episodes
2005 Life Nina Pink TV film
2005–06 headLand MJ Finnegan Regular role
2007 Sea Patrol Clair Watts Episode: "Rescue Me"
2007 Chandon Pictures Zoe Episodes: "Champion Charles", "White Ants"
2009–2011 City Homicide Allie Kingston Main role, 47 episodes
2011 Rush Sarah Episode: "4.13"
2013 Home and Away Dr. Peta Bradley Recurring role
2014 Old School Rebecca Episode: "Smash Repairs"
2015 Love Child Eleanor Episodes: "2.5", "2.6"
2015 Fresh Blood Pilot Season Episode: "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am"
2016 Brock Pauline Moffat TV miniseries

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Shearer, Geoff (5 August 2009). "Simon Townsend's daughter Nadia Townsend enjoys drama". The Courier Mail. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Life's a wonder in Simon's world". The Australian Women's Weekly. TV World. Vol. 48, no. 39. 4 March 1981. p. 51. Retrieved 3 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ a b "Simon Townsend's Wonder World! | About". Simon Townsend Journalism. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  4. ^ Bondfield, Mel. "Simon before Wonder World". National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA). Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ Wood, Stephanie (4 September 2015). "Rose Byrne to star in Sydney Theatre Company's 2016 Speed-the-Plow". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Event: Chambres". AusStage. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  7. ^ Zuk, Tim. "Head Start". Australian Television Information Archive. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Big screen 2004: Blue Neon + Stuffed Bunny". ScreenSound. 9 September 2004. Archived from the original on 18 July 2005. Retrieved 2 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ Zuk, Tim. "Fireflies". Australian Television Information Archive. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Event: Loss and Gloss". AusStage. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  11. ^ Fottrell, Quentin (31 October 2009). "A letter from America - and a bum note from the backbenches". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  12. ^ a b "City Homicide: Nadia Townsend". Yahoo7. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Puppy". Puppy The Movie Official Site. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  14. ^ Zuk, Tim. "City Homicide: Episode Guide Series 3". Australian Television Information Archive. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  15. ^ Zuk, Tim. "City Homicide: Episode Guide Series 4". Australian Television Information Archive. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  16. ^ Zuk, Tim. "City Homicide". Australian Television Information Archive. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  17. ^ Blake, Jason (24 June 2013). "Cosy night descends into wild ride". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  18. ^ a b c "Tutor: Nadia Townsend". Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "Nadia turns to Restoration"
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